Empty Right Seat

I started writing this post almost a month ago. I finally got around to finishing it today.

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It’s been a busy, busy week. On Wednesday, I had to take my ground school final exam. (I passed.) On Thursday, I had to take my pre-solo checkride with the flight school’s chief flight instructor. (Comments made: “Stop riding the brakes.” And, “You do realize that the field you are about to do an emergency landing in is a berry field, right?”). When I arrived at Pearson at 9 a.m. on Saturday, it was raining. The clouds are just above minimums. Who wants to fly in that? My flight instructor and I go over the pre-solo quiz for over two hours. She does a great job of quizzing me, as well as answering all my remaining questions. As I’m getting ready to leave, she says, “If the weather is good, we’ll see if you can solo tomorrow.” At least I knew I wouldn’t sleep well that night.

My flight lesson for Sunday was scheduled from 5-7 p.m. I keep checking the weather all day. Thunderstorms are forecasted for the afternoon. Will the weather hold for my flight? I get to the airport and start pre-flighting. There are some ugly clouds to the south, but the wind is from the west. We take-off and head to Scappoose and see what the weather is like there.

The winds at Scappoose were calm, but there was a rain cloud just to the south of the airport. We did 4 touch and goes. I wasn’t happy with any of my landings, but they weren’t that bad. My flight instructor asked if I was ready to solo. I told her I was ready. We taxied to the FBO. She signed my logbook and got out of the plane.

I taxied out to runway. Fuel selector on, mixture set to rich, flaps up, carb heat off, full throttle…and that’s when I noticed the first droplets of rain on the windshield. The rainstorm that was hovering south of the airport decided to move over the airport.

The rain seemed to lighten up a bit as I turned crosswind. However, it wasn’t the rain that I was worried about…it was the wind. However, the two are sometimes associated with one another. I switched the radio over to the automated weather and checked the winds. There was a crosswind, but only 4 or 5 knots. I turn base and final, line the plane up, and land the plane to the left of the center line. I was surprised at how routine my first solo landing was. I guess that’s the sign of a good flight instructor.

Since the wind seemed to be holding at a steady 5 knots, I took off again for another circuit. When I turned downwind, I tuned into the weather. Now the winds were blowing directly across the runway at 10 knots. If the winds were 5 knots faster, I would be exceeding the plane’s design specifications…on my second solo landing. I decided at this point to land the plane and not go around for a third circuit. Turned base and then final. As soon as I lined up the nose with the runway, the wind starts blowing me north of the runway. I crab into the wind (i.e. use the rudders to point the nose of the plane into the wind) to try and keep her lined up. I end up landing hard way to the left of the center line.

I taxi off the runway and back to the FBO to pick up my instructor. I’m half expecting her to start yelling at me for going around a second time. When I get back to the FBO, she runs up to the plane and asks me why I didn’t go around a third time. I was getting yelled at, but not for the reason I thought I was. (I really didn’t get yelled at, but that’s only because it’s not my flight instructor’s style.) I let her know about the crosswinds. When she listed to the radio, she thought it was a good idea to abort the third circuit.

We flew back to Pearson. The winds were calm there. My flight instructor decided that I could do my third circuit at Pearson. We landed, she got out, and I taxied back onto the runway for one circuit. Flying the pattern in calm wind seemed simple compared to the rainstorm that I was just in. Takeoff, crosswind, downwind, base, and final were all by the numbers, followed by probably my best landing to date. Which was a good thing since a friend of mine who is also taking flight lessons was at the airport watching me. I’m glad he saw that landing, and not my landings over at Scappoose.

I felt more comfortable about the whole experience than I thought I would. I felt that I had control of the airplane at all times. I suppose that is what matters most.


This is the bird that delivered me safely from my first solo: N16221






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